Shots rang out just after 6 p.m. as Trump spoke at the podium before a large crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a July 13 presidential campaign rally. Trump ducked to the floor of the stage and was shielded by Secret Service agents. He arose and pumped his fist before he was whisked away.
Sources told the Associated Press the gunman opened fire from an elevated position outside the rally venue. The suspect was shot dead by Secret Service, the AP reported.
Corey Comperatore, a former Pennsylvania firefighter who was in the crowd, was fatally shot in the incident, and two others were severely injured. Spectators were seen rushing from the stage area with blood-stained clothing.
"It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country," Trump wrote on social media. "I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin."
Miami-area Republicans released statements praising Trump's composure and railing against media for not immediately describing the incident as a shooting.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a golfing partner and longtime ally of the former president, said he and his wife "are praying for President Trump and all those in Pennsylvania."
"President Trump is a fighter and we know he will fight through this," Giménez said in a statement.
Sen. Marco Rubio condemned breaking coverage of the shooting, claiming large media outlets were too slow to acknowledge the incident as an assassination attempt.
After the shots rang out and chaos ensued in the crowd, reporters were scrambling to confirm the source of the gunfire and verify what had transpired with Secret Service. Some initial headlines and social media titles were ambiguous in their description of the incident, excluding the word "shooting" while outlets sought statements from law enforcement.
One breaking headline mentioned "loud noises" but did not specify that they were gunshots.
"Even in a horrifying moment such as this, they just can't help themselves," Rubio wrote in response to an initial CNN Politics headline that read, "Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at rally."
"Really no mention of the attempt to kill him," Rubio said of an early CNN social media post that held off on mentioning the gunfire.
CNN has since updated its coverage with the headline, "Trump injured in shooting at Pennsylvania rally."
"God protected him," said Rubio, who is reportedly on Trump's shortlist of potential vice-presidential running mates.
Gunshots broke out at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. In the foreground, James Sweetland, a physician who treated one of the shooting victims, is seen in a red hat and his shirt covered in blood.
Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the gunman. He was a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a municipality roughly 50 miles away from Butler. Bomb-making materials were found in his home and vehicle, which was parked near the rally, the AP reported.
The Republican Party of Broward County released a statement saying it admired Trump's resilience.
"Once again, President Trump has demonstrated his strength and fortitude when faced with overwhelming, unfair, and unjust adversity," the statement reads. "Our prayers are with those who were killed and injured in this despicable incident and we pray that an incident such as this would never happen again."
Florida Democrats condemned the violence in statements released shortly after the shooting.
"In America, political disagreements should never turn into violence. My thoughts are with former President Trump, the families of the victims, and the people in the crowd," Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said.
President Joe Biden announced he had been briefed on the shooting.
"I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I'm praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally," the president said in a statement. "There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."
Trump has been the target of previous attempted attacks by suspects claiming they planned to assassinate him, though none of the prior incidents resulted in injuries to the former president.
In June 2016, after he was arrested for trying to pull a Las Vegas police officer's gun out of a holster at a Trump rally, British citizen Michael Steven Sandford told investigators his plan was to kill Donald Trump and that he had been plotting to assassinate the then-presidential candidate for a year. Sandford, who had a history of mental illness, served less than a year in prison and was sent back to the United Kingdom after his release.
In September 2017, Gregory Lee Leingang was arrested for stealing a forklift from a North Dakota refinery. Upon his detainment, he told police he had been plotting to smash the vehicle into Trump's limo. Leingang was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Trump has also been the target of letters laced with the potent poison ricin in 2018 and 2020.
